


You & I

by butterflycell



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: First Time, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 09:29:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflycell/pseuds/butterflycell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been twenty two months since he'd last sat in the company of his best friend with a glass of good, solid whiskey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You & I

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that attacked my brain, vaguely inspired by the atmosphere of You & I by Lady Gaga... but also slow and sweet domestic-y fic!

Jim sat on the couch in his quarters, dressed down in soft, comfortable clothes. He swirled a glass of whiskey slowly, watching the way the low lighting changed the golden colour of it. It was the real stuff, for the first time in a _long_ time. He only had the genuine article when Bones insisted upon it. The stuff in his glass now was Bones' favourite Kentucky bourbon, and it only served to highlight just how inferior Scotty's ship brewed version was.   
  
It had been almost two years since he'd last had a taste of real whiskey.   
  
It had been twenty two months since he'd last sat in the company of his best friend with a glass of good, solid whiskey.   
  
Enterprise's latest mission had carried them off into uncharted space, and in the space of less than two years, Jim had successfully made first contact with two separate species, negotiated a peace treaty and ushered a budding civilisation into the Federation - but he'd done with without Bones. He'd gone into the black without his best friend, and he'd thought that a two year jaunt would be simple – they'd be out and back in no time, and Bones would be ready to come home when they did.   
  
But the reality had been different, something that he wasn't quite ready to face, but had been forced to nonetheless.   
  
It had been twenty two months of slowly dawning realisation that he'd left more than his best friend behind. Twenty two months of settling for a half-hearted video calls if their schedules allowed, already knowing that it wasn't enough.   
  
Yes, Bones was well, he was safe and he was enjoying his work, but he was still _gone_. He wasn't there to roll his eyes when Jim got bored of stellar cartography, he wasn't there to haul his ass to sickbay after an away mission with unexpected complications. He wasn't there to make him sleep after being awake for fifty hours straight.   
  
It had taken a good few months before Jim tried to simulate some of the easy atmosphere he was starting to ache for at the end of his shift. It wasn't the same – how could it ever be the same without Bones grouching about 'idiots' in engineering? - but cradling a glass of Scotty's home brew with the lights dimmed was enough to pull up some of the memories of the real thing.   
  
It wasn't brilliant – Scotty could never quite get the right smoky taste or acrid burn as it went down – but it was acceptable.   
  
But this, the drink he was cradling now, this was real.   
  
The bottle had been sitting on the coffee table when he came off shift, a note scrawled on a piece of actual paper.   
  
\--   
  
Over the past decade, since the horrors of Nero and the destruction of Vulcan, the Federation had been dedicating a steady and constant flow of resources to the settling of New Vulcan. It was seen as a top priority for all that the Vulcan race be returned to it's former stature as the leading authority in scientific research, but the systems for supporting the weakened population were the first to be addressed.   
  
In the time between the loss of their home planet and the decimation of Starfleet command by Khan and Admiral Marcus, New Vulcan had managed to created habitable and comforting settlements in prime locations around the planet. In the year that spanned Jim's recovery and the Enterprise's repairs, the new infrastructure was being planned to roll out across the planet.   
  
Whilst the Enterprise and her crew were searching out the deepest corners of the known and unknown universe, New Vulcan recreated large amounts of their past research, building libraries and labs and filling shelves and databases with everything that could be extrapolated and remembered. By the time Jim brought his crew home, New Vulcan was flourishing as the first waves of students began graduating from their programmes and moved into forging their own research.   
  
Despite the solidifying of their past and present, there were still clear gaps in their infrastructure – primarily their ability to provide widespread and effect medical care across the board. So far, the growing interest in medical sciences had seen graduates move off-planet, something that was already showing signs of damage to the population. It was perfectly understandable that the Vulcan High Command would want this situation addressed.   
  
What Jim didn't get is why they needed _Bones_.   
  
Sure, Bones was perhaps the most respected medic in the 'fleet – both for his actions on the Enterprise and for his status as one of the leading minds in xenoneurology, despite the demands on his time that being CMO to Captain James T. Kirk implied. Jim was perfectly happy, proud even, of Bones' standing in the medical community, but he was hardly thrilled at what it meant now.   
  
But the High Command had asked for his help explicitly – swayed by the way he'd accommodated them after the rescue from Vulcan – and 'Old Spock' had spoken with him personally, so there was really no way that Bones wouldn't lend a hand. Bones had 'duty' and 'loyalty' written in his core, and Jim was well aware that he'd always benefited hugely from those two traits. Until now.   
  
He liked to think that Bones would have told them no, in short, sharp words, had it not been for his personal connections to the people asking. He liked to think that Bones would roll his eyes and say he was too busy keeping his Captain in one piece. But this was Bones, and he was being asked to help make an entire civilisation safe from preventable illnesses, so of course he agreed.   
  
He'd done his best to save as much of their shore leave as he could, but then Jim's new mission came in and the Enterprise set sail and Jim had been forced to leave Bones at the shuttle bay in San Francisco. He'd smiled, told him it wouldn't be that long and that he better damn well come back in one piece, and Jim had clapped him on the back and told him not to go too insane in the Land of Logic. It had been a challenge not to look back over his shoulder as he got onto the shuttle that would take him back home.   
  
Jim had sailed off, Bones had – reluctantly, with much grumbling and complaining – been shipped off to New Vulcan, and for the first time since they'd met on that shuttle in Riverside, Jim had to work out how to exist without his best friend to ground him.   
  
\--   
  
The orders for the course deviation were a last minute request from headquarters, but Jim wasn't overly concerned. Taking a detour past New Vulcan would only add a day or so to their ultimate schedule, and he was certain that Spock would appreciate being able to see the thriving new world with his own eyes.   
  
They'd been asked to conduct a series of meetings to discuss the progress of a small fleet of ships, as well as to take on various supplies and personnel that needed transportation back to Earth. Jim had taken Spock, Scotty and a small team from engineering dirstside with him, and Sulu had overseen the arrangements for accommodating their new cargo. In the back of his mind, he was painfully aware of the fact that Bones would be among the new passengers for their trip home.   
  
He'd put that out of mind though, and listened careful to the discussions that went on around him. Scotty was in his element, getting into a complex conversation about the possibility of increased efficiency of current warp calculations, and Spock was interrogating the delegates from the flight program about their appropriation of 'Old Spock's technological knowledge. It seemed that the old man was just as mysterious about that as he was about Jim's destiny, which suited him just fine.   
  
But now their work was done, and they were back aboard the Enterprise. Jim set a course home and they were off. He took advantage of the quiet to start on the paperwork that the day's trip had caused and discreetly checked for Bones' whereabouts. He couldn't help but smile when the computer informed him that Bones had wasted no time on getting caught up with the medical events from the past mission – and Jim was sure he'd get an earful at some point.   
  
Part of him had wanted to go find him, to bring him close and not let go for a long time to come, but there was an uncertainty there. Bones had been gone a long time, after all. It would be a strain on any friendship, and Jim wasn't entirely convinced that he could bound into sickbay and expect nothing to have changed. The thought of seeing proof of that had kept him safely on deck for the remaining hours of his shift.   
  
Of course, it also lead him to sequester himself away in his ready room and catch up on any and all paperwork he had lying around. By the time that was sorted, it was well into gamma shift. He'd headed back to his quarters, and that was when he'd found the new bottle of liquor waiting for him. It felt a lot like an invitation.   
  
“Computer, locate Lieutenant Commander McCoy.” Jim rubbed his eyes, putting the drink down.   
  
“ _Lieutenant Commander McCoy currently located in his private quarters._ ” Jim paused, chewing absently at the inside of of his cheek for a moment.   
  
“What's his status?” He asked, leaning forwards a little.   
  
“ _Lieutenant Commander McCoy has dimmed lights to five percent and set an alarm for 0600._ ” He smiled a little at that. Bones was just going to drop right back into his place on board, no acclimating required. Without further thought, Jim got to his feet and followed the tugging in his chest that was growing more and more insistent.   
  
He made his way quietly through the now empty corridors. He trailed his fingers absently along the wall as he went, counting off the doors and deliberately running them across the faint bumps of rivets and seams on the wall panels. His heart was starting to pound just a little in his chest and it was getting mildly uncomfortable. If he stopped though, he would back away and never, ever let his head stray back to where it was now – and he was fairly sure that he didn't want that to happen.   
  
He stopped outside Bones' quarters, stared at the panel. Until a few hours ago, it had read “ _CMO Geoffrey M'Benga_ ”. Seeing that had done unspeakable things to Jim's gut at first, but then he'd learned to avoid this part of the ship, which turned out to be much easier than he'd thought. M'Benga was a good guy, and seemed to have taken it upon himself to channel Bones whenever Jim tried to dodge a physical or hide an injury, but he could never quite replicate the fond annoyance that Bones conveyed so well.   
  
But seeing that little line of text now was telling him that everything was back where it should be. Had he been a more romantic person, Jim might have said that seeing Bones' name had settled the universe back on his axis.   
  
He wasn't though, and all Jim felt was a loosening of tension he hadn't really appreciated was there.   
  
He dialled in the code Bones had given to him on the first day or that first mission, and he felt a small jolt in the region of his stomach when the door opened. Part of him crowed gently at the fact that Bones had already returned his entrance code to what it had been last time he'd been aboard. If that wasn't a promising sign, he didn't know what was.   
  
He stepped into the room, glancing about him. It was a little bare, with Bones' possessions still packed into transport cases sitting to one side of the large room. One was open, a few pieces of clothing spilling from the top. He took another step and the door closed behind him. He heard a slight rustling from the opposite end of the room and glanced over to see Bones stirring out of a doze.   
  
“Jim?” His voice was low, husky from sleep but real and free of the slight but infuriating modulation that was to be expected of any kind of video call, no matter how clear the signal. Jim couldn't help but smile a little.   
  
“Hey.” He turned, head cocked to one side as Bones shifted on his back and propped himself up on his elbows, frowning at him. Jim felt something calming wash through him, something like nostalgia and comfort and _home_.   
  
He just stood there and watched Bones watching him, watching the frown soften into something affectionate and inviting. Jim's heart stuttered. It must've shown in his expression if the way Bones narrowed his eyes a little was anything to go by. He was just lying there, his old college tee on, his sheets puddled round his waist and a pair of soft flannel pants hinted at, hiding the dip of his hipbones as they went south.   
  
And just like that, something broke away inside of Jim and he found the answer to a question he hadn't even begun to contemplate. Something throbbed inside him, strong and potent and all he could think about was getting close to Bones again, feeling his body heat, smelling the old Earth soap he loved so much. He just wanted to be near him, to be breathing the same air again.   
  
He crossed the room slowly, stripping his own t-shirt off and wriggling his track pants down his hips so he could step out of them without having to stop. He watched Bones the whole time, waiting for any indication of discomfort, anything to tell him he'd got this wrong and he needed to run, but Bones was just frowning slightly as Jim stood there in just his boxers and pulled back the sheets.   
  
“What're you...?” Jim didn't reply, just knelt across Bones' hips and settled down against him, pulling the sheets up round his back as he braced his forearms on the bed. He held himself over Bones, keeping enough distance that he wasn't crowding him, but not enough that he left any doubt as to what he was thinking. Bones had let himself fall back against the pillows, his eyes flickering from Jim's own to his mouth, his throat, his shoulders and back. Jim just watched him.   
  
“Is this okay?” Jim asked, finally, his voice strained and betraying him a little. Bones stayed silent, regarding him for a long, almost painful few moments. But then his hands moved to Jim's side, one sliding round to grip at the small of his back, one moving up to the back of his neck and he pulled Jim down into a slow, secure kiss.   
  
It was warm and inviting and Bones tasted of the same whiskey Jim had been drinking earlier. He smelt strange, of where ever he'd been based on the planet surface. His hands held firm and Jim couldn't help pressing down into him, a thoughtless reaction to the circumstance. He felt Bones shift under him, the pressure on his back encouraging the movement. He rolled his hips down slightly and Bones sighed.   
  
“You know how to keep a guy waiting, Jim.” He said gently, breaking the kiss but nudging their noses together gently. The fingers resting on the back of his neck crept up to tug at the short hair at the back of his head. Jim smiled and pressed a softer, teasing kiss to Bones' mouth, sucking at his bottom lip and earning a low growl of annoyance.   
  
Bones shifted his hips again and if Jim didn't already have his eyes closed, the slight friction would have done the job for him. He was a little relieved and a lot pleased to feel Bones tensing under him. He dug his knees into the mattress to gain some traction and pushed up, forcing Bones' head back slightly, his mouth opening further and Jim took every last scrap of advantage.   
  
Bones' hand slid from his hair, nails dragging down his back, both hands moving down to grab his ass. The heat of his hands was barely dampened by the material of his boxers and Jim really couldn't help the way his blood was starting to move downwards. He kissed Bones hard, sucking at his tongue and biting at his lips – and Bones gave back as good as he got, his fingers starting to bite in and pull Jim's hips down.   
  
His breath hitched in his throat and he felt Bones smile. He rutted up into Jim, rubbing their hips together in a way that sent jolts of pleasure down his rapidly hardening dick. Jim just kept kissing him, messy and slow, letting Bones set a matching rhythm. He felt a rising need to step things up, to hold Bones down and devour him, but the strong, easy feel of the grip on his ass kept it at bay.   
  
Everything was a slow burn, settling under his skin. One moment he was perfectly content to lie there in Bones' arms, the next he was aching to rip away the material between them. He found himself kissing Bones like it was all he really wanted to do for the next few days. How the hell had he not realised this before? He'd known Bones for more than a decade but it wasn't until he was gone that Jim sat up and noticed.   
  
He felt the firm grip on his ass loosen and made a noise of protest, only for Bones to bite down in placation as he ran his hands up Jim's back again, palms flat and warm and a little possessing. Jim shuddered at the contact, moving his arms so he could run a hand through Bones' hair. He broke the kiss, mouthing a lazy path from the sharp corner of Bones' jaw, down to the shape of his collarbone beneath the soft material of his tee. Bones' fingers flexed against his back, his hips stuttering upwards as Jim like his teeth graze the skin between his ear and hairline.   
  
Jim couldn't help writhing as Bones arched up into him, the material of his boxers adding friction that was both glorious and irritating as hell. He wriggled a little and shifted a hand down to start pulling at Bones' pyjamas, the other man obligingly shifting his hips until his dick was free of the material. He made quick work of Jim's boxers and Jim just kissed him again, a little desperate now. He could feel Bones reaching for something on the bedside table, groping for a few moments before the distraction faded and he kissed back hard.   
  
Jim heard the snap of a bottle lid opening. He fumbled for Bones' hand breaking the kiss to wait impatiently for him to squeeze some lube into his palm. Bones met his eyes deliberately as he slowly complied, biting at his bottom lip in a way that made Jim shudder. He leaned his head up, nudging their noses together as he tossed the bottle onto the bed beside them.   
  
Jim smiled a little as he let his hand drift south slowly, _finally_ , getting to close around Bones' dick and squeeze. He let out a broken moan, eyes sliding closed and Jim kissed the sound away as he stroked at the hot flesh in his hand. Bones panted against his mouth, hips shuddering up into Jim's and Jim just took his time.   
  
He let his grip loosen and closed his fingers around himself as well, squeezing briefly and slicking himself up. Bones came back to himself a little, one hand reclaiming its grip on Jim's ass as the other moved between them. Their fingers linked as they wrapped their hands around themselves, trusting together, stroking and teasing and shuddering. Jim could feel the hot slide of Bones' dick against his own, and just the idea of it sent a spark skittering into his hips and his hand tightened convulsively. He practically whined as Bones squeezed back and picked up the pace, mouth biting at his neck and collar bones.   
  
“Fuck, _fuck_ , Bones.” Jim let his eyes fall closed, his head dropping forwards as he tried to fight back the tell-tale signs of his approaching orgasm.   
  
“Christ...” Was Bones' only reply, sucking hard at the muscle of Jim's shoulder as they both pumped frantically at themselves and each other.   
  
In the end, it was nothing more that Bones' breath against his ear and a whispered ' _Jim_ ' that sent him over the edge, coming hard and fast between them. His hips jerked and stuttered violently against Bones and into the circle of their hands. He cried out and buried his face in Bones' neck as Bones followed him over the edge, their come mixing on Jim's skin and Bone's tee.   
  
The hot, dizzying buzz of their orgasms slowly ebbed away leaving Jim panting and feeling a bone-deep contentment. He listened to the frantic beating of Bones' heart, the harsh panting as he struggled to get his breathing back under control. He felt the slow stroke of fingers over his sides and his hips and he just settled more comfortably against him.   
  
“Don't you dare fall asleep right now.” Bones growled, his fingers digging in threateningly. Jim smiled, not bothering to open his eyes.   
  
“Sorry, but I think I'm too comfy.” Jim made a point to make himself just a little more like dead weight and Bones huffed against his ear.   
  
“Come on.” He eased them onto their sides and pulled back the covers enough to make Jim shiver and rouse himself enough to strip his boxers off. Bones sat up and tugged off his t-shirt, Jim watching him closely as he took the clean side to wipe down Jim's chest and their hands. He tossed it to the side with Jim's boxers and his pants followed soon after.   
  
Then the sheets were being pulled back up around their shoulders and Bones kissed him again. It was slow and promising, any easy exchange that left Jim feeling about as peaceful as he could remember being. He smiled sleepily and broke away.   
  
“We should probably talk about this at some point.” Bones said gently, fingers brushing against Jim's throat.   
  
“Sure, but it can wait until tomorrow, preferably after some awesome morning sex.” He grinned and Bones rolled his eyes in a way that was brilliantly familiar and made something throb in Jim's chest. “Welcome home, Bones.”   
  
He let the grin soften and coaxed Bones to turn over so he could wrap himself around him. He felt Bones sigh, a long heave of something being lifted from his shoulders. Jim buried his smile in the back of Bones' neck as he held him close, already looking forward to waking up and falling for his best friend all over again.


End file.
